Ok, this movie didn’t really make an impact when it was released sometime during the Passover season. I’d say it lasted in theaters shorter than an Upper East Side Seder. Much like my sefiras ha’omer count, United didn’t make it past opening weekend.

The film, as comparable to its namesake United State of America, is impressive, ambitious, and important from afar, but when you pay attention to the details, you find it contradictory, patronizing, and corrupt. So why write about this latest Kevin Spacey stinker now, or at all? Well, I’m not going to write about the film itself beyond this: Try not to see it. What is worth writing about is some interesting interviews BIO had the fortune of conducting with its young cast. The three actors we spoke with, Ryan Gosling, Jena Malone, and Chris Klein, may very well be the future of acting in America, and by publishing this now we get a unique opportunity to one day annoyingly say the critical equivalent of, Awe’ve known you since you got your little thing snipped. 

Jena Malone

She first caught your attention as Jodie Foster’s younger self in Contact - her crystal clear voice slowly enunciating the word APensacola.@ She has carved out an interesting resume including Donnie Darko and Cold Mountain, but her name will surely be circulated more widely with the release of the supposedly controversial teen flick, Saved!, a skewering comedy about teen  pregnancy in a Baptist school.

She slinks in to the interview wearing what could easily be deemed pajamas. She sits Indian style on her chair for most of the time, but at one point abruptly gets up, flips the chair around, and straddles it like Jon Bender. Jena is consumed by her art, and while that is commendable, she comes off as condescending and naive, despite he evident maturity and intelligence. It is simply that  a girl of her age should not speak as though she is world weary – it is more comical than impressive. She will toss off sprigs of wisdom such as "Every human needs to be on this planet and validate their lives as individuals" and "Most movies are maipulations - heightened versions of sexuality and femininity." Jena finds the concept of classifying anything damaging to the karma of the world. Her free thinking may have begun in childhood where, she says, she was brought up by a mother with a female lover. Good Luck Jena!. 

Chris Klein

As unlikable as someone who is near perfect can be. If you haven’t heard, Klein was discovered while walking the halls of his Nebraska High School by quality director Alexander Payne as Payne scouted locations for Election (year). Chris, handsome like Zeus, hasn’t got over his dumb luck and remains a gracious, wide-eyed puppy, still convinced he is an actor. He will speak and believe all the clichés. “I was looking for something darker”, he says about Leland, “It’s the material as whole that I base my decision on.” With a straight face he will say, “The material needs to resonate with me.” He must pray for the death of Keannu Reaves every night. How long can Hollywood afford to pay both these guys?

Chris, who essentially has yet to turn in a credible performance in a role that required more from him than to be nice, offers this on acting: “It is the job of the actor to fill in and flesh out the character. If the character can exist ethereally inside, then you can exude truth on screen. Acting is a result of preparation plus opportunity.” So that’s how he fondled himself so convincingly in American Pie II and roller-bladed in Rollerball.  I knew there had to be a secret.

Ryan Gosling

Ryan is the one to watch from this group. He has a sordid history involving The Mickey Mouse Club (the Timberlake, Spears, Aguillera version of which he says he doesn’t recall much), that show about a high school on a cruise ship, and syndicated young Hercules, but he has still emerged as a fierce talent after a bona fide riveting performances in The Believer.

If you have seen his serious work, you will not be surprised to know that in person he is equally introspective and almost deathly calm.   He is scruffy yet handsome in a very unorthodox way. His romantic leading man chops will be put to the test in this summer’s The Notebook.

I was told by his publicist that he despised the press day. Rightly so – the people who do this job are morons and ask preposterous questions. Look for our upcoming one on one with Gosling as we discuss The Believer – Coming soon…